Box 2 below).9 The Finnish association organized regional ‘tours’ on the SDGs in collaboration with the 2030 Agenda Coordination Secretariat at the national level. Many other associations have been intensively active in this regard, mapping initiatives by LRGs and fostering exchange (Sweden), promoting workshops (Botswana) and training activities (Togo), and communication on various media, magazines, and web-based portals and resources (e.g., Belgium, Denmark and the city of Seoul, in the Republic of Korea) to further engage their members. Table 3 presents a quick overview of the type of actions that LRGs and their associations and networks have been promoting all around the world.
Charters, declarations and the support of LRGs to the localization of the SDGs
BOX 1
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, Building Sustainability at the Local Level in Germany The “2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development” declaration, signed by German municipalities, calls on the “federal and state governments to: involve local authorities and their representatives as equals when developing strategies to achieve the SDGs” and “to create frameworks to enable” their participation, including funds to compensate the financial burden faced by local authorities when implementing international obligations. The declaration defines 13 initiatives through which municipalities can make a special contribution to the ‘localization’ of the SDGs in three main areas: 1) information and awareness-raising among citizens; 2) networking and lobbying activities to build broad local alliances of stakeholders; and 3) translating the 2030 Agenda to the local level, linking both existing and new measures and strategies for social, environmental, economic, political and cultural sustainability in all areas of municipal activity (fostering, among other things, a welcoming culture for the reception of migration flows).
BOX 2
The Global Goals Municipal Campaign in the Netherlands A growing number of Dutch municipalities take part in the Municipalities4GlobalGoals campaign. They have raised awareness about the SDGs within their communities, facilitated the participation of local stakeholders, analyzed their own policies and budgets to align them with the SDGs, and exchanged practices with other municipalities – both within and outside of the Netherlands. VNG International, the international cooperation agency of the Association of Dutch Municipalities, has drawn up a ‘Menu of Inspiration’, which provides municipalities with ideas on actions they can take for each of the SDGs. Through a ‘Time Capsule’, which is travelling around the country, mayors and their citizens, schools, municipal councils and other stakeholders can express their wish towards 2030 and engage in an open dialogue about what the municipality needs to do to achieve the SDGs and a sustainable future. The campaign, finally, also carries out negotiation and advocacy actions aimed at national ministries, and works with companies, development and environmental organizations.
9 More information on the campaign is available online at this address: https://vng.nl/onderwerpenindex/internationaal/gemeenten4globalgoals.
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